Know Yourself

I am reading The Heart of a Servant Leader by C. John Miller. It is a collection of letters to ministry leaders - great reading.
In one letter to missionaries who are re-evaluating their call, Miller writes:

"One evidence of the Spirit's presence in our lives is our seeing where we really are and admitting it to others."

I know that it takes a lot of intentional time with God to really know myself and to really know my motives. Do you take the time for such disclosure by the Spirit? It takes much prayer, Scripture intake and painful gaze at our deepest heart in God's mirror. How often do you pray Psalm 139:23-24:

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Tetelestai

Our economy is very much based on debt. Most of us carry some debt, too many become overwhelmed by it.
In biblical times people avoided debt and if you owed, you worked hard to be released from your debt. When a debtor paid off the debt, the certificate of debt, listing all that was owed, was nailed to his door post, with the word "Tetelestai" written across it.

"Tetelestai" was one of the seven things Jesus said on the cross. It means "It is finished", the debt is paid.

We can rejoice at the fact that Jesus paid our debt. Paul says it nicely in Colossians 2:14.
He has destroyed what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.
(Colo 2:14 NET)

Do you graspt the significance of being "debt-free" when it comes to your account with God?
You know the feeling of paying off a debt - it's freedom! That what Jesus accomplished for you on the cross.

Big Church-Small Church, Old Church-New Church

Before you read this, note the age of your church and the average Sunday morning attendance. Then read these stats. They come from various sources, you can double-check them on Google, try Natural Source Resources and Environics as a start.

- Church with under 100 people ==> 7.2 decisions for Christ in a year
- Church with over 100 people ==> 4.2 decisions for Christ in a year

- Church without a building plan ==> 3.3 decisions for Christ in a year
- Church with an active building plan ==> 8.2 decisions for Christ in a year

- Church that is planting another church ==> 8.5 decisions for Christ in a year
- Church not planting another church ==> 4.0 decisions for Christ in a year

- Church under 15 yrs old ==> 13.2 decisions for Christ in a year
- Church over 15 yrs old ==> 4.9 decisions for Christ in a year

Consider that most churches strive to be big (over 250), stable (old) and they rarely plant new churches because of the cost, risk and difficulty in finding good leaders.

Three more statistics:

- A new congregation will bring 6-8 times more new people into the life of the body of Christ than an older congregation
- Churches over 10-15 years old gain 80-90% of members by transfer from other churches
- 56 mini churches of 51 worshippers will reach 16x more people than a mega church of 2,856 (say 3K) people (I don't know if there are any this size in Canada) ... and likely will be more theologically sound…that's 1,600% greater effectiveness in evangelism

Hmmm...what do you think about that?

Why do you follow Jesus?

I am in John chapter 6 for a few weeks and I find it to be a most rewarding chapter. It is a long chapter (71 verses) and it lists several miracles including feeding of the 5,000, walking on water and the miraculous arrival of the disciples' boat on the other shore.

There chapter opens with this statement:
John 6:2 2 A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick.

Later Jesus says this:
John 6:26 26 Jesus answered them and said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.

And the chapter closes with this:
John 6:68-69 68 Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. 69 "We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God."

So, why do you follow Jesus? Is it the miracles, is it his provision, the fact that he takes care of you in this life or is it simply because of who he is.

What if you knew that Jesus would not do anything else for you in this life after you got saved. Would you stay faithful to him anyway?

Obama on Bible and Public Policy

I don't know when Obama made this speech. It showed up in my in-box with a request to hear and analyze. Here is my take on it:
First of all, let me just personally state that I do not believe that the bible was given to shape public policy. It was given to shape individual policy. The bible is a code of conduct for God's people. We live by it, because we love God and we want to live by his word and because we have the Holy Spirit who makes joyful obedience possible.

Christianity is not about establishing "Christian States" even though many of our laws are based on the bible. Christianity, by its definition, is voluntary and it is always loyal to a kingdom that is not of this world rather than setting up a particular kingdom in this world.

In fact, the more the State differs from the law of God, the better for Christianity. That is when the life devoted to Jesus shines the best. Non-Christian countries around the world are a case in point.

So I don't have a problem with Obama's position that the bible should not single-handedly shape public policy. I do however have a problem with his reasons why. His arguments are very poorly formed. They appeal to the biblically ignorant and insult the biblically intelligent. He appeals entirely to the Mosaic laws and with gentle mocking points out that we simply cannot live by those laws. He could have used the NT position and the life of the early church which lived under a regime mostly hostile to Christianity. The bottom line (if you don't want read any further) is that he makes the bible out to be outdated, irrelevant, confusing and those who would want to hold to it fanatical and dangerous.

First of all, in his speech Obama seems to imply that Christians do not agree on how to live by the bible. He asks: "Whose Christianity would we teach?" The options he gives are: Leviticus - where slavery is condoned and shell-fish are an abomination, Deuteronomy where stoning of children is condoned or Sermon on the Mount which is "radical" (although he does not say in what way). And then he encourages us to read our bibles, I suppose this is so that we could see how contradictory it is and how ridiculous it would be to try to live by it as a nation. I don't know who wrote this speech; Obama's examples are completely irrelevant to the topic. Does he not know that the ceremonial aspects of the law were temporary? Does he not know that Jesus fulfilled the law? Does he not know the difference between the Mosaic and the New Covenant? Does he not know how to interpret the Sermon on the Mount? He seems to think it has something to do with the Department of Defense and not our personal conduct!

Secondly, he argues that we cannot simply pass a law because the bible says so (using abortion as an example). Poor example - the bible does not speak to abortion directly...and I already agreed that we should not make public policy because the bible says so. But the reason he gives is that in a "pluralistic society we cannot hold to inerrancy of Scripture". Huh? What do these two things have to do with each other? Yes, without a doubt, the Scripture is without error. Does this mean we are going to force all people to live by it? Of course not! That is not Christianity!

Thirdly, Obama is making a point that religion belongs in the privacy of our homes and he uses the story of Abraham and Isaac as an example of how you can live by religious principles personally, but not as a nation. In this day and age, someone observing Abraham about to plunge the knife into Isaac would be calling child protection agencies because we do not hear the same voice of God. This story illustrates private devotion to God, so I fail to see how it supports the arguement, it seems to be undermining it. I am also not sure why Obama would imply that Isaac was a child. At this point in his life he was a young man and could have overpowered his father if he so wished. To use this account simply makes those who appeal to God's authority dangerous, in fact, that is the word he uses.

Bottom line as I see it: Obama has made clear that appeals to the bible will not hold as arguments in policy making. That's fine. There are many great reasons for limiting abortion (for example) that have nothing to do with the Christian argument of the value of human life. The problem is that those who hold biblical values have now been ranked lower than those who hold other values. Tim Keller in The Reason for God defines religion as any deeply held conviction by which we order our lives. Obama says that the Christian convictions must take a back seat to other deeply held convictions.

God and parties

The question that I am facing is: Does God condone (or perhaps even enjoy) a good party? I mean good fun, laughing, joking (not a anyone's expense), eating together - in short - a party.
At a conference last weekend one of the speakers said that Christians (of a particular denomination that shall remain nameless) don't know how to party...or at least they don't party enough.
I must admit that I took very slight offense at being told that I don't like to party. And that got me thinking about God and parties and our part in party (pardon the pun).
Maybe it is the word; "party" carries with it a slightly negative connotation unless it is accompanied by another word like "birthday", "anniversary", "swimming pool" etc. On its own, "party" does not sound holy enough.
Read this passage out of Deuteronomy - is about a festival tithe, which the people were to consume by...hmmm, how do I say it....partying?

Deuteronomy 14:23-26
23 "You shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God, at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.
24 "If the distance is so great for you that you are not able to bring the tithe, since the place where the LORD your God chooses to set His name is too far away from you when the LORD your God blesses you,
25 then you shall exchange it for money, and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses. 26 "You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household.

I hope you skipped over :25, especially the part about the strong drink.
By the way, this is not the only time God commands his people to rejoice - it is a very definite theme in the Hebrew Scriptures and in the anticipation of the Millenial reign and the New Heavens and the New Earth. God established the various festivals to give people a cause to come together before Him to rejoice, sing and danc

So my conclusion is: Yes, God loves a good party, but let's call it a celebration instead.
What do you think?

Missional Small Groups

According to the most excellent book, Missional Church (Guder), the church is a community of God's redeemed people who are an expression of God's Kingdom. The church provides a foretaste of the kind of life we will have in heaven - unconditional love, service to one another, no taking advantage of others, no unresolved conflict, no self-centeredness, rather God is at the center and we enjoy him without any barriers - you get the picture right? ...it's heaven!

The church leaders must model and cultivate their church community so that it is always moving toward this ideal.

I think that the small group context is one of the best ways to accomplish this, because:
a) small groups are small - there are fewer issues than in an entire congregation
b) small groups tend to attract similar types of people - or at least people who like each other - so there is already an advantage.

So, teach the small group leaders (or keep reminding them) that their small group is to be a little piece of heaven. Hmmm...that sounds like a great challenge!

What about fear?

I was challenged by one of Charles Stanley's Life Principles (http://www.intouch.org/) today - the principle of the "Landmine of Fear". In the past few days I encountered several specific confessions of fear from various people - fear with respect to an upcoming meeting, with respect to certain aspects of the future and so on. And so I am thinking - what place does fear have in the life of a believer...in my life? What brings out fear in me? Is it failure? Is it sickness? Is it poverty, rejection, loneliness, old age, my kids...and the list could go on.
I am not talking about the "good" fear which protects us from harm: such as the fear I feel when standing on the edge of a cliff. The fear I am talking about is the anticipation of pain, hardship or other "bad" stuff in life. This fear can muddle the mind, paralyze, lead to irrational choices, passed up opportunities, and problems in relationships with people and with God.
The bible has a lot to say about fear - God is very adamant about the fact that we ought to fear him only and trust him to look after all the other stuff that generally causes fear. We are not to be afraid of anything that might come our way. Fear happens when we look at the circumstances and forget to look at God. How well do you know God? Do you trust him to do what he says he will do? Do you trust that even the difficulties in life will bring about your good.
Next time you feel fear due to the circumstances in life read Psalm 3 and make it your own declaration of trust.
Remember:
- fear is not from God (2 Tim 1:7)
- fear is an indication of a lack of faith

Isaiah 41:10 Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

Remember

It was communion Sunday this past week at my church. We introduced communion with the memory recitation of Psalm 121 by one of our small groups...I love seeing people quote the bible! As I was taking the bread, in my private moment with the Lord, I said, as I often do "I remember". However the word remember came into focus in a new way. So, I started to leaf through my memory for what the bible says about remembering.

Remember is an action verb in the bible - to remember means to jump up and do something...as when you say "Oh my! I just remembered I am supposed to be at a meeting!" ... and you drop everything and run to the meeting.

-When God remembered Noah, he stopped the catastrophe of the flood.
-When God remembered Abraham he saved Lot in the midst of the Sodom overthrow.
-When God remember Rachel, she conceived.
-When God remembered His covenant he brought about the unforgettable events of the Exodus.
-When God remembered Babylon, he wiped "her" out completely.
-When Jesus remembered the thief on the cross - the thief was saved.

When God remembers - he acts - he jumps into action in behalf of those he "remembers". So what do you think Jesus means when he asks you to remember him? I think he wants us to jump up and say "Oh my! I am supposed to be about my Lord's business!"

Do you remember that you have a Lord and a King?

When you go to war in your land against the adversary who attacks you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the LORD your God, and be saved from your enemies. Numbers 10:9 9

Resentment - drinking poison while waiting for the enemy to die

I was struck by Jesus' very strong commands to forgive very early in my Christian life: "If you do not forgive, neither will your Heavenly Father forgive you" (Matthew 6:15, 18:35 etc.). And I took them all very seriously. I spend much time contemplating what forgiveness really is. Despite my hard effort it took years and the ministry of John Regier before I understood how devastating unforgiveness really is: it is bitterness, it is pain that we carry around, it is debt that we will not discharge.
Hebrews 12:15 says "See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled". There are a number of things we can see in this verse; first of all bitterness (unforgiven pain, resentment) means to come short of the grace of God. It means failing to get a hold of something great that God has for us, something that makes us free, that makes us cast off the bonds and soar with Him.
Secondly, bitterness is not inert - it is alive, it is like a root that grows and takes over more and more territory in the heart.
Finally, if you are a bitter, resentful, unforgiving person who carries past hurst around instead of letting them go, you are a "defiling" agent of those that you come in contact with.
If this is not convincing enough, Robert Leslie Holmes writes in an articles in the Preaching Magazine (Volume 24 No.4) that resentment is like "taking poison and waiting for your enemy to die". He illustrates this point with a fact about rattlesnakes: "a rattlesnake, if it is cornered, will sometimes become so angry that it will bite itself and die of its own poison. This is exactly what harbouring resentment against others is - biting oneself".
I am sure you know of devastated lives, destroyed relationships and destroyed churches because someone could not let go of the hurt, of the pain, of the unfair treatment they experienced.
The choice is yours - let it go and be free or let it live in your heart and let it be a poison to your soul and all those you come in contact with.

Submitting to God's Therapy

So I started physio-therapy on my knee, which I blew out almost two weeks ago (New Year's eve to be exact), skiing. I have some pulled tendons and damaged cartilage ... or something like that. Anyway, it hurts and when I walk I look like Quasimodo - hunched over, hobbling and shuffling grotesquely. My back hurts, I am not sleeping well, more easily irritated than usual (ask my kids) and feeling sorry for myself because I cannot go skiing on my amazing new pair of Heads.
The physio session was not pleasant...basically someone was causing me pain for an hour straight after which I said thank you and paid them. BUT, to my absolute amazement, I am able to step on my whole foot - my whole foot! Not just my toe! I cannot believe this progress - really! I tore my ACL eight years ago. I did not go to the doctor or for any therapy back then. Eventually it healed, but it took months and I re-injured it often during the healing process.
So today, I see that physio-therapy is akin to our spiritual maturing process. If we go along with God's "therapy" and submit to His molding, prodding, pressing and the exercises He assigns, we get better a lot faster. If we pray, read the Word, obey, listen, serve, confess and forgive, the pain, the sleeplessness, the irritability and the twistedness of our soul heal a lot faster than if we "refuse treatment", self-diagnose, do what we think is best and hope that eventually things will get better.
I encourage you to place yourself into God's expert hands. He is the soul-therapy master - hands down. He has seen every case under the sun (literally) and He knows exactly what you need. He will not push you to the point of breaking, although He may push you to a point of great pain. All of it is for the purpose of your healing. Don't be a fool, go along with His program or keep suffering...maybe things will get better eventually...but I doubt it.

How to Listen to a Sermon

This will be the topic of my sermon this Sunday. As a preacher, it first seemed a bit self-serving to tell my people how they should listen to me. However, the congregation experiences the preaching event as a listening event. And for all the books written on how to compose a sermon, I am not aware of a single one that teaches Christians how to listen to a sermon. Sermons are likely the primary way for many North American church goers to grow in their relationship in Christ. It may be the only spiritual discipline in which they regularly participate. We teach people how to pray, fast, read the bible and journal. Why don't we teach our people how to get the most out of preaching? Should this be a natural skill for all believers?
My sermons are all on my church web site www.theDwellingPlace.ca, so you can listen to it there. If you would like the full transcript let me know and I will be happy to send it to you. Also , I found a few good articles on the topic on the web-here are links to some of them:
-George Whitfield's take on the topic
-Theocentric Preaching
-Philip Ryken's take on the topic

Atheist holds that Christianity is necessary to transform lives (in Africa)

A friend of mine brought this article to my attention - thanks Gerald! Many evangelicals (not all) have revised Christian mission into purely humanitarian aid...this is a challenging article, affirming the Great Commission of our Lord and it is especially interesting since it is written from an atheist view point.
Link to the Times on Line article here.